Government of Amsterdam

The Government of Amsterdam is the government of the municipality and city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Most of the inhabitants live in the city of Amsterdam, but the municipality also covers a number of small villages, and other parts of the local government, such as the Waterschap or the bridge management, cover an even larger area.

The administrative district borders Diemen, Weesp, Abcoude, Ouder-Amstel and Amstelveen in the south, Haarlemmermeer and Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude in the west, and Zaanstad, Oostzaan, Landsmeer and Waterland in the north.

Population centers

Amsterdam, Driemond, Durgerdam, Holysloot, 't Nopeind, Osdorp, Ransdorp, Sloten, Sloterdijk, Zunderdorp.

Local government

City council 2006-2010

As all Dutch municipalities, the municipality of Amsterdam is governed by a mayor, burgemeester, his aldermen, wethouders, and the municipal council, gemeenteraad.

After the 2006 municipal elections a coalition was formed between PvdA and GroenLinks, with a majority of 27 out of 45. These elections saw a political landslide throughout the country, with a strong shift to the left, of which Amsterdam was a prime example. The much talked about all-left-wing coalition of PvdA, GroenLinks and SP that polls indicate would become possible after the national elections of 2006 and that was such a political success in Nijmegen had its largest majority in Amsterdam, apart from some small towns. PvdA even needed only 3 more seats to form a coalition and could thus take its pick, which forced potential coalition partners to give in on a lot of issues. In the case of GroenLinks, this was mostly the policy of preventive searching by the police, which they were opposed to but had to allow.

In total, 24 parties took part in the elections, including 11 new ones, but only 7 got seats. Amsterdam Anders/De groenen got assigned one seat at first, but lost it after redistibution, which in the Netherlands is done through a system that favours big parties. In 2002 they only just missed out on a second seat in a similar manner.

City council 2010-2014

Dutch municipal elections, 2010:

Boroughs

Amsterdam aldermen at their installation in 2006 from left to right: Tjeerd Herrema, Maarten van Poelgeest, Marijke Vos, Carolien Gehrels, Ahmed Aboutaleb and Lodewijk Asscher

7 Boroughs of Amsterdam

Unlike most other Dutch municipalities, Amsterdam is subdivided into 7 boroughs (stadsdelen), a system that was implemented in the 1980s. The boroughs are responsible for many activities that previously had been run by the central city. The idea was to bring the government closer to the people. All of these have their own council, chosen by a popular election. The eighth, Westpoort, covers the harbour of Amsterdam; because it has very few inhabitants so it is governed by the central municipal council. Local decisions are made at borough level, and only affairs pertaining the whole city (like major infrastructural projects), are delegated to the central city council.

The boroughs are:

• Amsterdam-Centrum (English: Centre). Attractions in this borough include Dam Square, De Wallen, the Homomonument, Nieuwe Kerk, Westerkerk and Prinsengracht.
• Amsterdam-Noord
• Amsterdam-Oost
• Amsterdam-Zuid
• Amsterdam-West
• Amsterdam-Zuidoost
• Amsterdam Nieuw-West

Mayors

The mayor of Amsterdam is the head of the city council. The current mayor-designate is Eberhard van der Laan (PvdA). The mayors since the World War II are:

• Feike de Boer (1945–1946)
• Arnold Jan d'Ailly (1946–1956)
• Gijs van Hall (1956–1967)
• Ivo Samkalden (1967–1977)
• Wim Polak (1977–1983)
• Ed van Thijn (1983–1994)
• Schelto Patijn (1994–2001)
• Job Cohen (2001-2010)
• Eberhard van der Laan (2010-present)

See also: List of mayors of Amsterdam

International cooperation

References

• Publication by the SDU staatscourant
• (pdf) - Statistics Netherlands publication on Amsterdam

v t e    Municipalities of North Holland Aalsmeer Alkmaar Amstelveen Amsterdam (Government) Beemster Bergen Beverwijk Blaricum Bloemendaal Bussum Castricum Den Helder Diemen Drechterland Edam-Volendam Enkhuizen Graft-De Rijp Haarlem Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude Haarlemmermeer Heemskerk Heemstede Heerhugowaard Heiloo Hilversum Hollands Kroon Hoorn Huizen Koggenland Landsmeer Langedijk Laren Medemblik Muiden Naarden Oostzaan Opmeer Ouder-Amstel Purmerend Schagen Schermer Stede Broec Texel Uitgeest Uithoorn Velsen Waterland Weesp Wijdemeren Wormerland Zaanstad Zandvoort Zeevang See also Netherlands Provinces Municipalities

Coordinates: 52°22′N 4°53′E / 52.367°N 4.883°E / 52.367; 4.883